St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-02
A WALKING GEOGRAPHY.
Wonderful Story Told by a Boot
black in the Globe Office Yester-

VOnuOrAuI otOTy LO1u Ny q 6OOt-
black in the Globe Office Yester-
day.
''Say, don't you want a shine?" asked
an intelligent-looking bootblack of a re-
porter yesterday afternoons as he stepped
! into the local department of the GLOBE.
''No," was the reply.
"Oh, come, now; only want 20 cents
|. to make up the price to st. Louis" he
said, and apparently forgetting the OBJ
ject of his call, he roamed about the
rooms inspecting everything within his
range of vision.
saI ''Say," he said, returning to the at
tack, you never saw such Teller as
me-"
?, "Why?" was asked.
"a swell, Pve been all over the world.
Ny name is John Goetz. I'm Pennsyl-
Eania Dutchman and only eighteen
4 Years DID,"
Where have you been?"
~; "Well, made my first trip on the hog
boat Gypsy, to San DiagO and my sec
ond trip on the same boat to San Pedro.
My next trip was around Cape Horn to
Rio de Janeiro for diamonds. Then l
took two trips on the clipper ship
Sterling, to Valparaiso. in Chilli, after
coacOanuts for New York. | next
shipped on the Great Admiral to
Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands after
sugar cane. Then we went to Mel
bourne, Australia, for merchandise and
Sydney for gold dust. Well, l followed
this up with trip to Toxic and YOko-
hama, Japan, after tea and silk for
Singapore, Straits of Malacca, and trad
ed cargo of merchandise for cargo of
rags. We took the rags to Calcutta,
where we got tea and rice for America.
We went to Dahle, in India, also, after
tea, which we brought to America, to-
gether with ten boxes of pearls, which
we got in Kalet, Persia. The next trip
we went to Mecca, in Arabia, after
coffee, and to Mecca after rags. This
trip took about ten months"
Here this precociOuS young Arab
cooked his feet on the table, and insert
ing his thumbs in his vest, received
message intended for the GLOBE, and
with
A PATRONIZING NOD
to the messenger boy, remarked, ''That's
all right, me son."
"Well," he continued, II next went
on the sealing schooner San Jose to
Alaska. We got $50 seal skins, eight
white bear skins, six seal otter skins, all
of which we sold at Victoria, B. G. The
last ship was on was the AureOla. l
didn't do anything in the line of hard
work until the second day at sea, when
the cook started me to scrubbing the
galley, then to get up in the morning at
3 o'clock to build the fire. had next to
attend to the cooking and finally wash
the dishes. His name was Bob Nc
Allister, and he was lazy devil, too.
When l finished things in the kitchen
he made me help the sailors. One day
| was mad, and instead of putting sugar
in the dough, filed it with salt and
red pepper. | got punished for that, but
when the ship reached port | knocked
the Skylight out of him. Well, finally
reached Seattle, W. r., and then to st.
Paul. I'm going to st. Louis, where
my folks live"
The way the yOungster ratified off the
different places ON foreign shores
clearly showed that what he said was
either true or else he was regular
walking geography. He has been
stranded in Australia, in Liverpool and
India, and according to his own story
has really travelled as much, if not
more, than any boy of his age in the
country. He told of many other places
he had been, and even described to a
dot the customs and appearance of for
eign countries. He is certainly won
derful lad and could be used in an office
to much better advantage than any map
ever printed. He is short, squatty
boy, wears striped trousers, white
shirt, two sack coats of the same size
and light-cOlOred stiff hat.